What the Bible Really Says About Salvation — 1 Corinthians 15 Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to see everybody back, and we're just going to go right in and pick up where we left off in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. And for the sake of you out in television and those of you who will be ordering tapes and books, we're going to try something a little new. We're going to be putting the numbers on the board, and what they really amount to is the number 27 is the number of these programs, four programs in a row that we have produced now. That takes us back about almost six years, so the number 27 is the number of our videotape which contains, remember, 12 programs, and it's also the number of the little book that's been transcribed. And then the number 1 is this is the first series of four programs in tape number 27, and this is now the second half of our program. So for those of you out in television, if you wonder where we are and you want to correspond with one of the little books that's presently on the screen or a videotape, why, just be aware of the number up here. We'll try to keep doing it every time now. I guess we should have done it long ago. But anyway, this is now videotape number 27, which will be also book 27, and we're in the first series of four programs, and then next month it'll be the second series and so forth. All right, again, for those of you out in television, we do have all the programs going back to Genesis 1-1 available on the videos, and as you've already seen on the screen, they've been transcribed in the little books, and my, how the little books are taking off. I don't know. Iris was trying to figure out the other day how many thousands of those books are already out there, but there's a bunch. So if you're interested, why, you give us a call on the 800 number or drop us a note. And again, we always like to remind folk we aren't here to cause any controversies. We don't want to raise any arguments or get into any arguments. We just simply teach the Word, and we trust the Holy Spirit will do what needs to be done. All right, now if you'll turn with me then to 1 Corinthians chapter 4, and we left off at verse 10, and we jumped over into 2 Corinthians and went through the list of sufferings and persecutions that the apostle lists in that chapter, but now as we come on into verse 10 and 11 and 12 and chapter 4, we're going to see much the same thing. So he says, we are fools for Christ's sake, and remember that's what the world thinks of us as believers, the foolishness of the preaching of the cross. So he says, we're fools for Christ's sake, but you, he says, are wise, because remember he's writing to believers, we are weak, you are strong. In other words, they hadn't as yet gone through the trials and tribulations and persecutions that the apostle had, although when we get to chapter 7, I don't know when that'll be, but when he starts dealing with the marriage relationships, and he starts that chapter with that it is good for a man not to touch a woman, I'm sure that what he really had in mind was that these people, just freshly converted out of paganism, would soon come under the intense persecution that the Roman Empire brought upon Christianity, and I think that's the reason, of course, we'll allude to that when we get to chapter 7. And so even here, I think the apostle Paul is trying to probably prepare them for the time when they would have to literally die for their faith, even as the apostles have already had to do, and as Paul would within a few years after writing this letter. So now then, he says verse 11, but even under this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, now you know he didn't have a nice big beautiful mansion to go home to after a missionary journey, Paul, like I said last program, evidently chucked all of his previous wealth and his prestige in order to become this apostle of the Gentiles. Verse 12, he labored with his own hands to get enough cash to take care of his personal needs, and we know from the book of Acts that he worked as a tent maker with his hands. All right, we labor with our own hands, being reviled, being persecuted, we suffer it or we go with it. Verse 13, being defamed, we entreat, we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscoring of all things unto this day. Well, that was one view, but as I pointed out so often, when he confronted the philosophers up there at Mars Hill in Athens with all their philosophizing, calling him nothing but a babbler, you remember what I said about it? In reality it was the other way around. Paul was the one who really had the words of life and wisdom, and the philosophers had nothing but babble. All right, now it's the same way here, defamed because of what he was doing to promote the gospel, we are made as the filth of the world, and so forth. All right, now verse 14, he says, I do not write these things to shame you. In other words, Paul is not saying, unless you suffer like I've suffered, you're not really believers. I know there are some who have taken that approach. I know one great theologian has almost taken that approach, that if you haven't suffered some real indignities for your profession, then he doubts that you're a believer. Well, I can't go along with that. We don't have to suffer indignation. We don't have to suffer these things just to prove that we are a Christian. In fact, I remember telling a young pastor years and years ago, he's probably already long gone. I haven't heard a thing of him for years, so I'm sure he's not within my voice anymore, and he was constantly, seemingly, being persecuted by the community. They would egg his car, and they would break his windows, and he was complaining to me one time, and I knew whereof I spoke. I said, look, have you ever stopped to think that maybe you are promoting it with your attitudes, with the community, and so forth? And I don't know what had an impact on him, but these things do happen, where people just literally become so obnoxious, seemingly for the sake of the gospel, that they instigate this kind of opposition. And now Paul is warning them, I am not rehearsing these things to give you the idea that if you haven't suffered like I have, then you're not a believer. That's what he's implying, see? So he says, I don't write these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons. Now, how does he use the term sons here of these pagan Corinthians? The same way he spoke of Timothy. What did he call Timothy? My son in the faith. Not physically. My lamb, Timothy, was clear up in a different part of the world from Paul, but yet he referred to him as his son in the faith. All right, that's how he's referring to these Corinthian believers. They were just like children of his, because he was the one that brought them the gospel and the salvation power that was able to bring them out of their paganism and out of their idolatry. All right, now we're in verse 15. For though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers. Well, I've struggled with this verse. It's kind of a tough one to see through, but I think what he's really saying here, by inspiration again, never lose sight of that, that you can have all kinds of instructors. You can have Sunday school teacher after Sunday school teacher. You can have pastor after pastor. You can have television evangelist after television evangelist. But how many of those have had any real impact in bringing you to the place of salvation? Probably only one or two people who really influenced your life to the place where you became a child of God. And I think that's what he's driving at here, see? For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you, how? Through the gospel. Now again, someone just reminded me at break time. It's been a while. I need these reminders. It's been a while since I have delineated the gospel as Paul talks about it. So let's look at it for the sake of our television audience, if nothing else. First Corinthians chapter 15. We'll be there in several more months, I guess. Little by little we're getting there. Did I say chapter 15, verse 1? Chapter 15 of First Corinthians, verse 1. And I always lay these out as the clearest definition of the gospel of salvation, as you can find between these two covers. And if whatever you believe doesn't line up with these verses here, then you better take another look, because here is the gospel in all of its simplicity, in all of its power. Verse 1. Moreover, brethren, so he's writing again to these same Corinthian believers, I declare unto you the gospel, now he doesn't say a gospel, the gospel, the one and only, which I preached unto you, and which also you have received, and wherein you stand. Now here it comes. By which also you are saved. Now I told you some time ago, another word that I like to use, even in place of the word saved, by which you have been made righteous. Remember that? I think we stressed it in some of our Oklahoma classes, that not only are we saved from hellfire, but we have been declared righteous by an imputation of God Himself. He has imputed to us His righteousness as a result of our believing the gospel. Nothing else. We don't work for it, we don't deserve it, it's all of God's grace, and of course we appropriate it by faith. All right, so by which you are saved or made righteous, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, lest you believed in vain. And all I say to that is, you have to know what you believe. You don't just believe some empty gobbledygook, you know what you believe. Verse 3, 4 Paul says, I delivered unto you, now you remember what he's been saying about the Corinthians? They had come out of their pagan darkness, because he brought them the gospel. He was the one that entered Corinth for the first time with this message of salvation. Oh, others followed, but he was the one who made the first opening in that wicked city. He says, I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received. See there, he's defending his apostleship again. He didn't pick this up from the twelve in Jerusalem. He received this gospel from the ascended Lord in glory. That's why you can't find this gospel in the four gospels. It's not back there. Couldn't be, because Christ hadn't even died yet. But now he says, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins. According to the Scriptures, the Old Testament was full of it, absolutely. And then verse 4, and that he was buried, and that he arose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. And then he was seen of Peter, and then of the twelve, and so on and so forth. All right, now then, coming back to chapter 4, whenever Paul makes reference to his bringing the Corinthians to the gospel, that's what he brought them. How that Christ died for our sins. How that he was buried, and that he arose again for our justification. That's the gospel. There's nothing in there concerning a mandated baptism. There's no mandated joining something. There's no mandated doing something. It is just simply believing it. And oh, that's hard for people to comprehend. Although I'll have to admit, our television response has just become unbelievable of people who are beginning to see that it is this, our next newsletter. In fact, I guess I should tell the television audience, we are putting out a quarterly newsletter, and it's not very big and complicated, but we do incorporate a couple of letters every month from some of our listeners, and this next newsletter is going to have two testimonies of people who have come out of spiritual darkness and into the salvation experience because of this television program. And so we know that the gospel still has that tremendous power to bring people out of the darkness. All right, reading on now in 1 Corinthians 4, then. Since Paul was the one in verse 15 who brought the gospel to the Corinthians, look at this next verse, and oh, it makes some people angry. I've had them almost say, well, Les, where do you get this stuff? Well, here it is. Look what he says. Wherefore, I beseech you, be ye followers of Jesus Christ. Is that what it says? No. And that's what everybody thinks it should say, but he says, be ye followers of me. All right, let me show you another one. And oh, there are many of them throughout his epistles, but the best one, or the one I can remember the best, is Philippians chapter 3. A precious little letter, just chock full of the believer's experience and how in spite of adversity the man could write, Rejoice, evermore I say, Rejoice. See that's the whole theme of Philippians. But all right. Oh, let's see. Here's the worst thing. Start. I guess I can just jump in at verse 17, because that's what I wanted you to see. Now he's writing to the church at Philippi, remember. Brethren be followers together of me, and mark them which walk, so you have us for an example. Now you see, most people think we're supposed to be following Jesus. Now don't get me wrong. Who in the world is Paul following? Jesus Christ. Absolutely He is, and we're right at His heels. And so as we follow Paul, who are we following? Jesus Christ. But again, not the Jesus of Nazareth and the dusty roads of Palestine, but the crucified, risen Lord of glory is the one that we follow, see? And only if only people could see that. Secondly, if I were to follow Jesus, as some people think we should, then I say, now wait a minute. When I get to the shore of Galilee and He takes off on foot, what am I supposed to do? I can't walk on that water. Peter proved that, but he did. And over and over he went through circumstances as the God-man that I as a human can't comprehend, so how am I going to follow in those kind of footsteps? But oh listen, the Lord Jesus that Paul follows, and I can follow in Paul's steps because Paul was just as human as you and I. Paul hurt just as much when that whip fell on his bare back as it would hurt you and I. Paul got just as cold on those old windswept plains of Turkey as you and I would get. And if he could take it, then by God's grace you and I can take it. You see what I'm driving at? And sure, we're all following. In fact, you're in Philippians yet, aren't you? Still chapter 4? I've already flipped back, but come back up there. Verse 10, and this should be the prayer of every believer as we follow this apostle. Y'all got it? Philippians 4, verse 10. Oh, Paul writes that I may know him intimately on a person-to-person basis and the power of his what? His resurrection. If you can't believe the resurrection today, then you have no salvation, you have no power, you're destitute. But the very heart of the Gospel is that he rose from the dead. And that's what makes all the difference between Christianity, true Christianity, and the religions of the world. They can't claim any power of resurrection, or they can claim reincarnation, but they know nothing of resurrection power. Alright, now then come back to 1 Corinthians 4. So he says in verse 16 again, "...be ye followers of me." He is the example. He was willing to suffer and die for the sake of the cross of Christ. Now verse 17, "...for this cause," because Paul is the leader of this whole concept of Christianity now, the body of Christ, "...for this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son, not physically, but spiritually, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ." Now even Timothy, did you catch that in this verse as you read it? Even when Timothy would come, what would Timothy constantly remind the Corinthians of? Of what Paul had done on their behalf, in bringing them the knowledge of the crucified and risen Christ. See that? Which he said even Timothy will bring about, and he will bring to remembrance my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. Alright, now we come back to 18, and we're going to have to deal with some problems again, aren't we? But he says, "...in spite of all things that I had going for them." They had the apostle himself as their spiritual father. They had his son, spiritually, Timothy, who was going to come and enhance their work. So they had all these things going for them, much like Israel back there in the Old Testament. Have you ever stopped to realize how much Israel had going for them, and yet what did they do with it? They failed it miserably over and over. Well, the Corinthians are doing the same thing. They've had the strong teaching and preaching of the greatest apostle that ever lived. They've even had dear old Timothy come along, and yet, now verse 18, some of these Corinthian believers are puffed up. Now whenever Paul speaks of being puffed up, what do you suppose is their main problem? Pride! Pride! I've heard sermon after sermon in my younger days, and I imagine you have. Pride is the one thing that keeps people more often than anything else from salvation. Pride. Because you see, most people don't want to admit that they are a sinner. Pride stands in the way. I'm not that bad. I'm pretty good. And they refuse to see what God says. God says we're sinners, and that's what we have to go by, whether we feel like it or not. And it's that way in all the realms of faith. It doesn't matter how you and I feel about something. What does the Book say? And if the Book says it, then whether I feel like it or not, that's what I have to go by. So he says you're puffed up, as though I would not come to you. Now don't forget that Paul is across the Aegean Sea from Greece, over there in western Turkey where Ephesus is still, the ruins of the city are there, and so he's across the Aegean Sea, probably 150, 200 miles away from Corinth, and these Corinthian believers are saying, oh, Paul will never show up here again. He's not going to take forth the effort to take a ship and come across the Aegean and come and dress us down. And he says you're getting kind of cocky. You're getting puffed up, and you think I won't. What's he saying in so many words? But I am. I'm going to come in there, and I'm going to be some straightening out, see? But he says you're puffed up, as though I would not come to you. But he says in the next verse, I'm going to, see? I will come to you shortly, and if the Lord will and will know, not the speech of them who are puffed up, but with what? Power. Now see, even the Corinthians, they weren't that far from Athens, you want to remember. How far do you remember? Was it 50 miles? I don't think it was even that far. All right. But within communicating distance, even in the ancients. So Corinth was in proximity with Athens, and all the philosophy and all the paganism of Athens was also indicative in Corinth. All right, so now then, they were used to hearing the philosophers with all their smooth talk, and with all their big words. You know, that still impresses people, doesn't it? Oh, they like to hear people who can use all this big heikefluten language and what have you. Now that's what they call, you know, you're having had a riot. But Paul says, I'm not going to come to you with a bunch of smooth talk. I'm not going to come to you with the big long words of the philosophers, but I am going to come to you with what? Power. See? And that's the word he uses over and over. The wisdom and the power of God. That's what brought these people out of paganism. It wasn't Paul's fast talking. It wasn't Paul's language. It was the power of God when he preached the simple gospel of Christ. And the Holy Spirit helped those people to understand that yes, they were sinners for whom Christ died and rose from the dead. All right, only got a few minutes left. So he says, for the kingdom of God, verse 20, for the kingdom of God is not in word, it's in what? Power. Now let me take you back to the first chapter. It's been a while since we've been in I Corinthians 1. I Corinthians 1, and then I'm going to go back, honey, to Romans 1. But I Corinthians 1, verse 18, verses that I like to use over and over because they are so simplistic, and yet they say everything that needs to be said. I Corinthians 1, verse 18. All there? For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, to lost people, it's what? Foolishness. Why fool around with something that is connected to someone who lived and died 2,000 years ago? What's that got to do with us today? I've had people ask me, what does someone that died 2,000 years ago have to do with me today? Everything. Everything. And then he says, but unto us who are saved, or again, made righteous, it's what? The power of God. See, that's why good works never save anybody. Good works do not have the power of God. They're just something that we can do in the energy of the flesh. All right, then you drop on down to verse 21, I think it is. I'm looking for the word power again, in verse 24. We'll read verse 21. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Remember the Athenian philosophers? They knew nothing of the Creator God, nothing. But it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that what? Believe. Plus nothing. And old people can't understand that. That we are saved by believing the Gospel plus nothing. Otherwise it becomes legalism. It becomes a works religion. All right, then the word I really wanted you to see was verse 24. But unto them who are called, that is God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. But old people don't like to admit that, see. All right, now then let's come back to chapter 4 for just a minute. Verse 21, and then we'll have to end this segment again. Verse 21, so he says, What will ye? You Corinthians, what will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod? Do ye want me to come with wrath and anger and not spare? Or shall I come in love and in the spirit of meekness? Which one do you think he's going to go? Well, he's going to go in the spirit of love and meekness, because it just wasn't Paul's nature to go in there and start taking harsh measures if he doesn't absolutely have to. And so he does. And so this letter is going to be, I think, preparatory to his coming to the congregation in Corinth so that he can appeal to them in love and meekness. That's Route 1, Box 716, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. 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